Having a degree 'could help you fight dementia'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 02:06 EST, 2 June 2010

Studying at university could have health benefits, scientists claim

Studying at university could have health benefits, scientists claim

Better educated people have more resistance to dementia, research shows.

Scientists found that the symptoms of dementia, such as memory loss, were reduced in people who had undertaken higher education.

The extra time spent poring over books preparing for exams had a physical benefit when they became older, researchers say.

Previous studies had shown that higher education had offered some protection against symptoms in the later stages of disease.

'We wanted to investigate how education affected the disease in the early stages of dementia, known as mild cognitive impairment,' said Dr Sindre Rolstad, a Swedish psychologist.

By analysing patients' spinal fluid, researchers at the University of Gothenburg were able to examine whether there were signs of dementia in the brain.

Dr Rolstad said: 'Highly educated patients with mild cognitive impairment who went on to develop dementia over the next two years had more signs of disease in their spinal fluid than those with intermediate and low levels of education. Despite having more disease in the brain, the highly educated patients showed the same symptoms of the disease as their less well educated counterparts.

'This means that patients with higher levels of education tolerate more disease in the brain.'

With this knowledge, doctors may be able to speed up the diagnosis of dementia in 'smart people' who were often mistreated because they did not show as many classical symptoms.

The researchers also studied patients with mild cognitive impairment who did not go on to develop dementia over the next two years.

'We found that the highly educated patients who did not develop dementia during the study showed signs of better nerve function than those with lower levels of education.'

Dr Rolstad said: 'This finding means that the highly educated not only tolerate more disease in the brain but also sustain less nerve damage during the early stages of the disease.'

The results indicate that a higher reserve capacity delays the symptoms of dementia and the progress of the disease.


Comments (15)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now